"dora" and "gustav" are giants' tools. Fat Gustav - Hitler's biggest cannon ← Hodor Hitler's heaviest weapon is the Dora cannon

In 1936, Adolf Hitler was faced with the problem of overcoming the French Maginot Defense Line, a 400-kilometer defensive line consisting of fortified bunkers, defensive structures, machine-gun nests and artillery emplacements. It was decided to build a weapon of such power that would be able to destroy the long-term fortifications of the line. At the factories of Friedrich Krupp A.G, two monstrous guns were produced: Big Dora and Tolstoy Gustav. "Gustav" (Schwerer Gustav) weighed as much as 1344 tons and could only move along railway, and it took three whole days to prepare for firing. This contraption took part in the hostilities only once and was captured by the Allies near Sevastopol.

The "Fat Gustav" gun weighed 1344 tons and some parts had to be dismantled to move it along the railway tracks. The gun was as high as a four-story house, had a width of 6 meters and a length of 42 meters. Maintenance of the "Fat Gustav" gun was carried out by a team of 500 people under the command of a high-ranking army rank. The team needed almost three days of time to prepare the gun for firing.

The diameter of the projectile gun "Fat Gustav" was 800 mm. To push the projectile out of the barrel, a charge of smokeless powder weighing 1360 kilograms was used. Ammunition for the cannon was of two types:
a high-explosive projectile weighing 4800 kilograms, stuffed with a powerful explosive, and an all-metal projectile weighing 7500 kilograms for the destruction of concrete.

The speed of the projectiles fired from the barrel of the "Fat Gustav" gun was 800 meters per second.

The angle of elevation of the Tolsty Gustav cannon barrel is 48 degrees, thanks to which it can hit a target with a high-explosive projectile at a distance of 45 kilometers. A projectile designed to destroy concrete could hit a target at a distance of 37 kilometers. Having exploded, the high-explosive projectile of the Tolsty Gustav cannon left a crater 10 meters deep, and a concrete-piercing projectile could penetrate about 80 meters of reinforced concrete structures.

They finished building it by the end of 1940, and the first test shots were fired at the beginning of 1941 at the Rugenwalde training ground. On this occasion, Hitler and Albert Speer, the Reich Minister for Armaments and Ammunition, came to visit.

The installation of the gun began in early May, and by June 5 the gun was ready to fire. She fired 300 shells at Sevastopol (with a frequency of about 14 per day) fired 30 more times during the suppression of the uprising in Warsaw ghetto, after which the gun fell into the hands of the allies, who handed it over to scrap metal.

Not easy to charge

Projectile and charge in the sleeve of an 800-mm gun

The construction of "Tolstoy Gustav" was often described as a waste of time and money, which was partly true, although the defenders of Sevastopol may have had a different opinion. On the other hand, if the Maginot line could not be bypassed and it would have been possible to shoot at Gibraltar, then the gun could have played important role in the war. But there are too many "woulds".

During the siege of Sevastopol, cannon shots were directed by data from a reconnaissance aircraft. The first hit from a cannon was a group of coastal guns, destroyed in total 8 volleys. 6 volleys were fired at Fort Stalin with the same effect. 7 shots were fired at Fort "Molotov" and 9 - at the Northern Bay, where a successful hit of a heavy shell pierced the fort in depth, to the ammunition depots, which completely destroyed it.

Neither helped the Nazis nor powerful weapon nor a well-trained army. History has put everything in its place.

The guns "Dora" and "Gustav" are giants' guns.

Superheavy artillery piece on the railway track "Dora" was developed in the late 30s of the last century by the German company "Krupp". This weapon was designed to destroy fortifications on the borders of Germany with Belgium, France (Maginot Line). In 1942, "Dora" was used to storm Sevastopol, and in 1944 to suppress the uprising in Warsaw.

The development of German artillery after the 1st World War was limited by the Treaty of Versailles. According to the provisions of this treaty, Germany was forbidden to have any anti-aircraft and anti-tank guns, as well as guns whose caliber exceeded 150 mm. Thus, the creation of large-caliber and powerful artillery was a matter of honor and prestige, the leaders of Nazi Germany believed.

Based on this, in 1936, when Hitler visited one of the Krupp factories, he categorically demanded that the company's management design a super-powerful weapon that would be capable of destroying the French Maginot Line and Belgian border forts, such as Eben-Enamel. According to the requirements of the Wehrmacht, a cannon projectile must be able to penetrate 7 m thick concrete, 1 m armor, 30 m hard ground, and the maximum range of the gun should be 25-45 km. and have a vertical guidance angle of +65 degrees.

The group of designers of the Krupp concern, which was engaged in the creation of a new heavy-duty gun according to the proposed tactical and technical requirements, was headed by Professor E. Muller, who had vast experience in this matter. The development of the project was completed in 1937, and in the same year the Krupp concern was given an order for the production new gun caliber 800mm. The construction of the first gun was completed in 1941. The gun, in honor of the wife of E. Muller, was given the name "Dora". The second gun, which was named “Fat Gustav” in honor of the leadership of the firm of Gustav von Bohlen and Halbach Krupp, was built in mid-1941. In addition, a third 520 mm caliber gun was designed. and a barrel length of 48 meters. It was called "Long Gustav". But this weapon was not completed.

In 1941, 120 km. west of Berlin, at the Rügenwalde-Hillersleben training ground, guns were tested. The tests were attended by Adolf Hitler himself, his colleague Albert Speer, as well as other high army ranks. Hitler was pleased with the test results.

Although the guns did not have some mechanisms, they met the requirements that were specified in the terms of reference. All tests were completed by the end of the 42nd year. The gun was delivered to the troops. By the same time, over 100 800mm caliber shells had been manufactured at the company's factories.

The locking of the barrel bolt, as well as the sending of shells, were carried out by hydraulic mechanisms. The gun was equipped with two lifts: for shells and for shells. The first part of the barrel was with a conical thread, the second with a cylindrical one.

The gun was mounted on a 40-axle conveyor, which was located on a dual railway track. The distance between the tracks was 6 meters. In addition, one more railway track for mounting cranes was laid along the sides of the gun. The total weight of the gun was 1350 tons. For firing, the gun needed a section up to 5 km long. The time it took to prepare the cannon for firing consisted of choosing a position (it could take up to 6 weeks) and assembling the gun itself (about 3 days).

Transportation of tools and maintenance personnel.

The transportation of the gun was carried out by railway transport. So, near Sevastopol "Dora" was delivered by 5 trains in 106 wagons:

1st train: service staff (672nd artillery division, about 500 people), 43 cars;

2nd train, auxiliary equipment and assembly crane, 16 cars;

3rd train: cannon parts and workshop, 17 wagons;

4th train: loading mechanisms and barrel, 20 wagons;

5th train: ammunition, 10 wagons.

Combat use.

In the Second World War, "Dora" took part only twice.

The first time the gun was used to capture Sevastopol in 1942. During this campaign, only one case of a successful hit by a Dora shell was recorded, which caused an explosion of an ammunition depot located at a depth of 27 meters. The remaining Dora shots penetrated the ground to a depth of 12 meters. After the explosion of the projectile, a drop-like shape with a diameter of about 3 meters was formed in the ground, which did not cause much harm to the defenders of the city. In Sevastopol, 48 shells were fired by the gun.

After Sevastopol, "Dora" was sent to Leningrad, and from there to Essen for repairs.

The second time "Dora" was used in 1944 to suppress the Warsaw Uprising. In total, more than 30 shells were fired by the gun in Warsaw.

End of Dora and Gustav.

04/22/1945, the advanced units of the Allied army, 36 km. from the city of Auerbach (Bavaria), they discovered the remains of the Dora and Gustav guns blown up by the Germans. Subsequently, all that was left of these giants of the 2nd World War was sent for remelting.

At 05:35 on June 5, 1942, a thunderous sound shook the valley near Bakhchisarai, which in 20 years people would have mistaken for a thermonuclear explosion. On railway station and in the houses of the townsfolk in the southern part of Bakhchisarai, windows flew out. After 45 seconds, a huge projectile fell north of the Mekenzievy Gory station, a few tens of meters from the field ammunition depot of the 95th Infantry Division. The next seven shots were fired at the old coastal battery No. 16 south of the village of Lyubimovka. On June 5, six more shots were fired at an anti-aircraft battery of the Black Sea Fleet. The last shot that day was fired at dusk, at 19:58.

Alexander Shirokorad

Specifications The effective firing range is 40 km. Total weight 1344 tons, barrel weight 400 tons, barrel length 32 m, caliber 800 mm, projectile length (without propellant charge) 3.75 m, projectile weight 7.1 tons

The remains of "Dora" shocked american soldiers

Unique photos: transporting the captured Gustav to Stalingrad

Until June 26, shells of monstrous caliber covered Soviet positions with a frequency of five to sixteen rounds a day. The shelling ended as abruptly as it began, leaving the Soviet side with the unresolved question: what was it?

Complete "Dora"

Sevastopol fired "Dora" - the largest and most powerful gun, created in the history of mankind. Back in 1936, when visiting the Krupp plant, Hitler demanded from the company's management a super-powerful artillery system to deal with long-term structures of the Maginot Line and Belgian forts. The design team of the Krupp firm, which was engaged in the development of a new weapon according to the proposed tactical and technical requirements, was headed by Professor Erich Muller, who completed the project in 1937. The Krupp factories immediately set to work on the production of colossi.

The first gun, named after the wife of the chief designer "Dora", was completed in early 1941 at a cost of 10 million Reichsmarks. The shutter of the gun was a wedge, and the loading was separate-sleeve. The total length of the barrel was 32.5 m, and the weight was 400 tons (!). In combat position, the length of the installation was 43 m, width 7 m, and height 11.6 m. The total weight of the system was 1350 tons. The supergun carriage consisted of two railway transporters, and the installation fired from a double railway track.

In the summer of 1941, the first gun was delivered from the Krupp plant in Essen to the experimental site Hillersleben, 120 km west of Berlin. From September 10 to October 6, 1941, firing was carried out at the range, the results of which completely satisfied the leadership of the Wehrmacht. At the same time, the question arose: where can this superweapon be used?

The fact is that the Germans managed to capture the Maginot Line and the Belgian forts in May-June 1940 without the help of a superweapon. Hitler found "Doré" new goal- Fortifications of Gibraltar. But this plan turned out to be unrealistic for two reasons: firstly, the railway bridges of Spain were built without the expectation of transporting goods of such a weight, and secondly, General Franco was not at all going to let German troops through the territory of Spain.

In the end, in February 1942, the chief of the general staff ground forces General Halder ordered the Dora to be sent to the Crimea and placed at the disposal of the commander of the 11th Army, Colonel-General Manstein, for shelling Sevastopol.

At the resort

On April 25, 1942, five echelons with a dismantled gun mount and a service division secretly arrived at the Tashlykh-Dair station (now the village of Yantarnoye), 30 km south of the Dzhankoy railway junction. The position for "Dora" was chosen 25 km from the targets intended for shelling in Sevastopol and 2 km south of the Bakhchisaray railway station. They decided to build a top-secret gun position in an open field, on a bare area like a table, where there were neither rocky shelters, nor at least a small forest. A low hill between the Churuk-Su River and the railway was opened by a longitudinal excavation 10 m deep and about 200 m wide, a one-kilometer branch was laid to the Bakhchisarai station, and a “mustache” was laid to the west of the hill, which provided a horizontal firing angle of 45 degrees.

Work on the construction of the firing position was carried out around the clock for four weeks. 600 military railway builders, 1,000 workers of the Labor Front of the Todt organization, 1,500 people were involved local residents and several hundred prisoners of war. air defense It was provided with reliable camouflage and constant patrols over the area by fighters from the 8th Air Corps of General Richthofen. An 88-mm battery was lined up next to the position anti-aircraft guns and 20 mm anti-aircraft guns. In addition, the Dora was served by a smoke masking division, 2 Romanian infantry guard companies, a platoon of service dogs and a special motorized field gendarmerie team. Total combat activity guns were provided by more than four thousand people.

ghost weapon

The Gestapo declared the entire area a no-go zone, with all the ensuing consequences. Taken measures turned out to be so successful that the Soviet command did not learn about the arrival in the Crimea, or even about the very existence of the Dora, until 1945!

Contrary to official history the command of the Black Sea Fleet, led by Admiral Oktyabrsky, did one stupid thing after another. Until 1943, it firmly believed that back in June 1941, the Italian fleet entered the Black Sea, and fought stubborn battles with it - they laid minefields, bombed mythical enemy submarines and torpedoed enemy ships that existed only in an inflamed imagination. As a result, dozens of combat and transport ships of the Black Sea Fleet were killed by their own mines and torpedoes! The command of the Sevastopol defensive region either sent Red Army soldiers and junior commanders who reported explosions of huge shells to the tribunal for alarmism, or, on the contrary, reported to Moscow about the use of 24-inch (610-mm) railway installations by the Germans.

After the end of the fighting in the Crimea in May 1944, a special commission searched for a firing position for a super-heavy gun in the areas of the villages of Duvankoy (now Verkhnesadovoye) and Zalanka (Frontovoe), but to no avail. Documents on the use of the "Dora" were also not among the trophies of the Red Army captured in Germany. Therefore, Soviet military historians concluded that there was no Dora near Sevastopol at all, and all the rumors about her were Abwehr misinformation. But the writers "retracted" on "Dora" in full. In dozens of detective stories, heroic scouts, partisans, pilots and sailors found and destroyed the Dora. There were people who "for the destruction of the Dora" were awarded government awards, and one of them was even awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Psychological weapon

The origin of the myths around the "Dora" was also facilitated by the action of its 7-ton shells, the effectiveness of which was close to ... zero! Of the 53 800-mm shells fired, only 5 hit the target. Observation posts of division 672 recorded hits on battery no.

True, Manstein wrote in his book “Lost Victories”: “A gun with one shot destroyed a large ammunition depot on the shore of Severnaya Bay, hidden in the rocks at a depth of 30 m.” Note that none of the adits of Sukharnaya beam was blown up by German artillery fire until last days defense of the Northern side of Sevastopol, that is, until June 25-26. And the explosion, which Manstein writes about, came from the detonation of ammunition, openly laid out on the shore of the bay and prepared for evacuation to south side. When firing at other objects, the shells fell at a distance of 100 to 740 m from the target.

Headquarters 11th German army chose the target rather unsuccessfully. First of all, the targets for the Dora armor-piercing shells were to be coastal turret batteries No. 30 and No. 35, protected command posts fleet, coastal army and coastal defense, fleet communication centers, underground arsenal adits, special plants No. 1 and No. 2 and fuel depots, hidden in the thickness of the Inkerman limestone, but they were almost not fired upon.

As for the eight shells fired at coastal battery No. 16, this is nothing but the embarrassment of German intelligence. The 254-mm guns installed there were removed back in the late 1920s, and since then no one has been there. By the way, I climbed and filmed the entire battery No. 16 up and down, but did not find any serious damage. Later chief General Staff Wehrmacht Colonel-General Halder rated "Dora" as follows: "A real work of art, but, unfortunately, useless."

Scrap metal

In addition to the Dora, two more 800-mm sisters were made in Germany, which, however, did not participate in the hostilities. In 1944, the Germans planned to use the Dora to fire on London from French territory. For this purpose, three-stage H.326 rockets were developed. In addition, the Krupp company designed a new barrel for the Dora with a smooth bore of 52 cm caliber and a length of 48 meters. The firing range was assumed to be 100 km. However, the projectile itself contained only 30 kg of explosive and its high-explosive effect was negligible compared to the V-1 and V-2. Hitler ordered to stop work on the 52-cm barrel and demanded the creation of a gun that shoots high-explosive shells weighing 10 tons with 1.2 tons of explosive. It is clear that the creation of such a tool was a fantasy.

April 22, 1945, during the offensive in Bavaria, the 3rd american army, advanced patrols of one of the units, when passing through the forest 36 km north of the city of Auerbach, found 14 heavy platforms at the dead end of the railway line and the remains of some huge and complex scattered along the tracks metal structure heavily damaged by the explosion. Later, other details were found in a nearby tunnel, in particular, two giant artillery barrels (one of which turned out to be intact), parts of gun carriages, a bolt, etc. A survey of prisoners showed that the structures discovered belong to the super-powerful guns "Dora" and "Gustav ". Upon completion of the survey, the remains of both artillery systems were scrapped.

The third super-powerful weapon - one of the Gustavs - ended up in the Soviet zone of occupation, and its further fate is unknown to Western researchers. The author found a mention of him in the "Report of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Armaments on the work in Germany in 1945-1947." v.2. According to the report: “... in July 1946, a special group of Soviet specialists, on the instructions of the Ministry of Armaments, undertook a study of the 800-mm Gustav installation. The group compiled a report with a description, drawings and photographs of the 800-mm gun and carried out work to prepare for the removal of the 800-mm Gustav railway installation to the USSR.

In 1946-1947, an echelon with parts of the 80-cm Gustav gun arrived in Stalingrad at the Barrikady plant. The gun was studied at the factory for two years. According to information received from design bureau veterans, the plant was instructed to create a similar system, but I did not find confirmation of this in the archives. By 1950, the remains of "Gustav" were sent to the factory site, where they were stored until 1960, and then were scrapped.

Together with the gun, seven shells were delivered to the Barricades plant. Six of them were subsequently sold for scrap, and one, used as a fire barrel, survived and was later sent to Malakhov Kurgan. This is all that remains of the greatest weapon in human history.

The Dora was built to break through the Maginot Line. An order for a gun that could penetrate 1 meter thick armor plate and 7 meters thick reinforced concrete layer with a maximum firing range of 35–45 kilometers was received by the Krupp plant in 1936. Three cannons were built according to this project. The first of these was Dora, the second (also 80 cm in caliber) was tested at the German test site in Rügenwald (Rügenwald, now Darlowo, Poland) and was named Heavy Gustav (Schwerer Gustav), but was not used anywhere. The third gun of this type with a barrel caliber of 52 cm and a length of 48 meters, called "Long Gustav", was not completed at all, it was destroyed by allied aviation.

The position for the "Dora" in the Crimea was chosen by General Zuckerort, the commander of the heavy guns, during an airplane flight around Bakhchisaray. The cannon was supposed to hide in the mountain, for which a special cut was made in it. Since the position of the gun barrel changed only vertically, to change the direction of firing horizontally, the Dora moved along a steeply curved arc of the railway track. Engineering preparation of the area was carried out by 1.5 thousand workers and a thousand sappers for four weeks.

A whole marshalling yard was built in the place where the guns were deployed. Service personnel, kitchen and disguise equipment arrived in 43 cars of the first train. An assembly crane and auxiliary equipment were brought in 16 cars of the second train. In 17 wagons of the third, parts of the cannon itself and the workshop were delivered. The fourth train in 20 wagons transported a 400-ton 32-meter barrel and loading mechanisms. In the 10 cars of the fifth train, in which an artificial climate (15 ° C) was maintained, shells and powder charges were placed. The Dora was served and guarded by 4370 officers and soldiers. The gun was assembled in 54 hours and prepared for firing by the beginning of June.

How to distinguish between pictures taken in Rügenwald and near Sevastopol

Most of the shots of the Dora gun were taken at a position in the Bakhchisaray area.

NOTABLE DIFFERENCES

MIXING EXAMPLES

On the morning of June 5, 1942, two diesel-electric locomotives with a capacity of 1,050 horsepower each rolled this colossus with a total weight of 1,350 tons into a sickle-shaped combat position and installed it with an accuracy of a centimeter.

The first shot consisted of a projectile weighing 7088 kilograms, two powder charges of 465 kilograms each and a cartridge case weighing 920 kilograms.

Hitler instructed the leadership of the Krupp concern to develop a heavy-duty long-range gun capable of penetrating concrete fortifications up to seven meters thick and meter-long armor. The implementation of this project was the heavy-duty gun "Dora", named after the wife of its chief designer Erich Müller.

The first samples of super-heavy guns

By the time the Fuhrer came up with such an ambitious idea, the German industry already had experience in the production of artillery monsters. At the end of World War I, Paris was shelled by a battery of three super heavy guns system "Colossal". The barrels of these monsters had a caliber of two hundred and seven millimeters and sent their shells over a distance of over one hundred kilometers, which at that time was considered a record.

However, a calculation of the damage inflicted on the French capital by this battery showed that its real effectiveness was negligible. With exceptional range, the accuracy of hitting guns was extremely low, and it was possible to fire from them not specific objects, but only huge areas.

Only a small part of the shells hit residential buildings or other structures. The guns were mounted on railway platforms, and at least eighty people were required to service each of them. Considering, moreover, their high cost, it turned out that the cost of them in many respects exceeded the damage that they were capable of inflicting on the enemy.

Shame of the Treaty of Versailles

After the end of the war, the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, among other restrictions, introduced for Germany a ban on the production of guns whose caliber exceeded one hundred and fifty millimeters. It was for this reason that it was a matter of prestige for the leadership of the Third Reich, by amending the articles of the treaty that was humiliating for them, to create a gun that could surprise the world. As a result, "Dora" appeared - an instrument of retribution for the infringed national pride.

Creation of an artillery monster

Work on the creation of the project and the production of this monster took five years. Super-heavy railway gun "Dora" with its own technical parameters beyond imagination and common sense. Despite the fact that the projectile fired from it with a caliber of eight hundred and thirteen millimeters flew only fifty kilometers, it was capable of penetrating seven meters of reinforced concrete, meter-long armor and thirty-meter-thick earthworks.

Problems related to the use of the implement

However, these undoubtedly high figures lost their meaning, given that the gun, with extremely low aiming of the fire, required a truly large-scale maintenance and operating costs. It is known, for example, that the position occupied by the Dora railway gun was at least four and a half kilometers. The entire installation was delivered disassembled, and its installation took up to one and a half months, which required two 110-ton cranes.

Such a weapon consisted of five hundred people, but, in addition, a security battalion and a transport battalion were seconded to them. Two trains and another power train were used to transport ammunition. In general, the personnel required to service one such gun amounted to one and a half thousand people. To feed so many people, there was even a field bakery. From all this it can be seen that the Dora is a tool that requires incredible costs for its operation.

The first attempt to use the weapon

For the first time, the Germans tried to use their new offspring against the British to destroy the ones they built on Gibraltar. But immediately there was a problem with transportation through Spain. In a country that has not yet recovered from civil war, it turned out that there were no lifting bridges and roads needed to transport such a monster. In addition, the dictator Franco prevented this in every possible way, not wanting at that moment to draw the country into a military clash with the Western allies.

The transfer of guns to the eastern front

In view of these circumstances, the Dora super-heavy gun was sent to the eastern front. In February 1942, it arrived in the Crimea, where it was placed at the disposal of the army, which unsuccessfully tried to storm Sevastopol. Here, the 813 mm Dora siege gun was used to suppress Soviet coastal batteries equipped with 305 mm guns.

The disproportionately large staff serving the plant here on the eastern front needed to be increased additional forces protection, since from the first days of arrival on the peninsula, the cannon and its crew were attacked by partisans. As you know, railway artillery is very vulnerable to air strikes, so an anti-aircraft division had to be additionally used to cover the gun from air raids. He was also joined by a chemical unit, whose task was to create smoke screens.

Preparing a combat position for the start of the shelling

The place for the installation of the gun was chosen with great care. It was determined during an overflight of the territory from the air by the commander of the heavy guns, General Zuckerort. He chose one of the mountains, in which a wide cut was made for the equipment of the combat position. In order to ensure technical control, the Krupp company sent its specialists to the combat area, who were involved in the development and manufacture of the gun.

The design features of the gun made it possible to move the barrel only in a vertical position, therefore, to change the direction of fire (horizontally), the Dora gun was placed on a special platform that moved along an arc of steeply curved railway tracks. Two powerful diesel locomotives were used to move it.

Work on the installation of the artillery mount and its preparation for firing was completed by the beginning of June 1942. To strengthen the fire strike on the fortifications of Sevastopol, the Germans used, in addition to the "Dora", two more self-propelled units"Charles". The caliber of their barrels was 60 cm. They were also powerful and destructive weapons.

Memories of participants in the events

There are eyewitness accounts of the memorable day of June 5, 1942. They talk about how two powerful locomotives rolled this monster weighing 1350 tons along the rail arc. It should have been installed with an accuracy of up to a centimeter, which was done by a team of machinists. For the first shot, a projectile weighing 7 tons was placed in the charging part of the gun.

A balloon took to the air, the task of the crew of which was to adjust the fire. When the preparations were completed, the entire crew of the gun was taken to shelters located at a distance of several hundred meters. From the same eyewitnesses, it is known that the recoil during the shot was so strong that the rails on which the platform stood went five centimeters into the ground.

Useless piece of military art

Military historians disagree on the number of shots that the German Dora gun fired at Sevastopol. Based on the data of the Soviet command, there were forty-eight of them. This corresponds to the technical resource of the barrel, which cannot withstand more of them (then it needs to be replaced). German sources claim that the cannon fired at least eighty shots, after which, during the next raid by Soviet bombers, the power train was disabled.

In general, the Wehrmacht command was forced to admit that Hitler's vaunted gun "Dora" did not live up to the hopes placed on it. With all the costs incurred, the effectiveness of the fire was minimal. Only one successful hit was recorded in the ammunition depot, located at a distance of twenty-seven kilometers. The remaining multi-ton shells fell uselessly, leaving behind deep craters in the ground.

No harm was done to the defensive structures, since they could only be destroyed as a result of direct hits. The statement about this cannon of the chief of staff of the Wehrmacht ground forces, Colonel General, has been preserved. He said that the largest Dora cannon is just a useless work of art. It is difficult to add anything to the judgment of this military specialist.

Fuhrer's wrath and new plans

Such disappointing results, shown during the fighting with the Dora gun, aroused the wrath of the Fuhrer. He had high hopes for this project. According to his calculations, the gun, despite the prohibitive costs associated with its manufacture, should have gone into mass production and, thus, make a significant change in the balance of forces on the fronts. In addition, the serial production of weapons of this magnitude was supposed to testify to the industrial potential of Germany.

After the failure in the Crimea, the Krupp designers tried to improve their offspring. It was supposed to be a completely different Dora heavy artillery mount. The gun was supposed to be ultra-long-range, and it was supposed to be used on the Western Front. It was planned to make fundamental changes to its design, allowing, according to the authors' intention, to fire three-stage rockets. But such plans, fortunately, were not destined to come true.

During the war years, in addition to the Dora cannon, the Germans fired another super-heavy gun with a caliber of eighty centimeters. It was named after the head of the Krupp company, Gustav Krupp von Bollen - "Fat Gustav". This cannon, which cost Germany ten million marks, was just as unusable as the Dora. The gun had almost all the same numerous shortcomings and very limited advantages. At the end of the war, both installations were blown up by the Germans.